From: hekunze@barrow.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze)
Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 10/24
Date: 1996/10/25
Message-ID:
X-Deja-AN: 192151134
sender: news@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca (news spool owner)
organization: University of Waterloo
newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
[Wrestling TidBits]
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I will get around to answering e-mail this weekend. I'll also try to get a
tape update on my web site.
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Picture of The Week
This week I've got a couple of large pictures featuring action from All
Japan Pro-Wrestling. Both pictures focus on matches that are a little bit
old, but the shots are cool. The first is of Steve Williams delivering his
back drop driver on Mitsuhara Misawa. The second features Jun Akiyama
powerbombing Kenta Kobashi.
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[ Animal slams Muto ] [In Your House ] this past Sunday was nothing special
at all, IMO. The best match was
Steve Austin vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley, but even that wasn't anything
oustanding. The Sid vs. Vader match was poor and the main event was pretty
bad. the post-match fiasco for the main event was horrible. This is the
first PPV show from either compant in a while that merits an easy thumbs
down.
To top it off, they continue devaluing the In Your House shows. It's funny
to read Vince's Prodigy interviews, where he talks about not caring too
much about the Monday ratings; then, you watch an In Your House PPV that is
just a commerical for the next Monday Night RAW. I found it a bit
depressing.
[ - ] WCW has Halloween Havoc 10/27/96. Tentative line-up has:
* Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage for the WCW Title
* Harlem Heat vs. Scott Hall & Kevin Nash for the Tag Titles
* Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight
* Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett
* Steve McMichael & Chris Benoit vs. Barbarian & Meng
* Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddy Guerrero for the Battle Bowl ring
* Chris Jericho vs. Syxx
* Arn Anderson vs. Lex Luger
They've already taped things Jarrett in the Four Horsemen, so it seems even
more likely that he'll replace the injured Ric Flair in the team. Talk is
that Flair will return to manage the group and wrestle on special occasions
only.
[ - RAW ] this week delivered an excellent segment with Bret Hart.
According to the Observer, Bret had likely been offered the
$3-million per year three-year deal (including wrestling/movies) from WCW
and was leaning towards it when Vince McMahon ask for one more meeting. It
is suggested that Vince surpassed that offer, digging up close to
$4-million per year for four year, easily making this one of the most
lucrative deals in wrestling history. Apparently, Hard asked up front to be
on Monday Night RAW regardless of his decision on Vince's offer and, to
that point, had not officially told Vince that he was staying. So, maybe
Vince's "Whew!" during Hart's interview was not staged. As has always been
the case, the current WWF plan is to feud Bret Hart & Steve Austin and
build to a return match with Bret vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania next
year, with Bret getting the title.
The other highlight of RAW was the heel turn of Curt Hennig. I guess we're
supposed to believe that Hunter Hearst Helmsley losing to Steve Austin
because of Hennig's involvement on the In Your House on Sunday was all part
of the plan. In that match, Helmsley had Austin set up for his finisher,
but saw Hennig with his companion and abandoned the finish to chase down
Hennig. It seems a bit incredible that he would do this, that's all. I
don't think Mero needed to be used to get Curt Hennig over as a heel.
[ Liger & Samurai nail Honaga ] [ - ] As has been reported on the net
already, Sabu has signed with All
Japan and will be Rob van Damme's regular tag partner, with the two filling
the slot left by the WWF-bound Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas. Says the
Observer, "There are already those who are skeptical since Sabu will have
to totally modify his style to fit into All Japan."
[ - ] I had the chance over this past week to catch up on some video
watching. Tape numbers below will have two "?"s in them because I haven't
yet integrated these tapes into my collection. There was some
(surprisingly, at times) great New Japan:
3?? NJ - 08/10/96 TV, 08/17/96 TV
08/02/96 NJ Masa Chono vs. Satoshi Kojima G1 Climax
(finish only)
08/02/96 NJ Kensuke Sasaki vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan G1 Climax
(finish only)
08/02/96 NJ Keiji Muto vs. Kazuo Yamazaki G1 Climax ****
08/02/96 NJ Riki Choshu vs. Shinya Hashimoto G1 Climax ****1/2
08/03/96 NJ Junji Hirata vs. Kensuke Sasaki G1 Climax 1/2*
(tracking problems)
08/03/96 NJ Riki Choshu vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan G1 Climax **1/2
(tracking problems at start)
08/03/96 NJ Keiji Muto vs. Satoshi Kojima G1 Climax *1/4
08/03/96 NJ Shiro Koshinaka vs. Kazuo Yamazaki G1 Climax ***3/4
08/04/96 NJ Masa Chono vs. Shiro Koshinaka G1 Climax ***3/4
08/04/96 NJ Hiroyoshi Tenzan G1 Climax ***3/4
vs. Shinya Hashimoto
3?? NJ - 08/24/96 TV, 09/01/96 TV
08/05/96 NJ Masa Chono vs. Kazuo Yamazaki G1 Climax **
08/05/96 NJ Kensuke Sasaki vs. Riki Choshu G1 Climax ***1/2
08/05/96 NJ Keiji Muto vs. Shiro Koshinaka G1 Climax ****1/4
08/06/96 NJ Shinya Hashimoto vs. Kensuke Sasaki G1 Climax *3/4
08/06/96 NJ Shiro Koshinaka vs. Satoshi Kojima G1 Climax
(finish only)
08/06/96 NJ Masa Chono vs. Keiji Muto G1 Climax ***
08/06/96 NJ Riki Choshu vs. Masa Chono G1 Climax ***1/4
(Choshu wins tourney)
3?? NJ - 09/08/96 TV, 09/15/96 TV
08/02/96 NJ El Ultimo Dragon vs. Jushin Liger J Crown ***
08/02/96 NJ Great Sasuke vs. Masayoshi Motegi J Crown ***3/4
08/03/96 NJ El Samurai vs. El Gran Hamada J Crown **1/2
08/03/96 NJ Shinjiro Otani vs. Negro Casas J Crown ***1/2
08/02/96 NJ Dan Severn vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara ***1/4
08/04/96 NJ El Ultimo Dragon vs. Shinjiro Otani J Crown ****3/4
08/04/96 NJ Great Sasuke vs. El Samurai J Crown ****1/4
08/05/96 NJ Great Sasuke vs. El Ultimo Dragon J Crown ****1/4
(Sasuke wins final, unifies eight
belts)
[ Skydiving J Cup Ad ] The J Crown TV shows were incredible. It's funny to
note that Shinjiro Otani, easily one of the top 15
wrestlers in the world in my book, was not even listed in the top 500 in
the PWI's recent list. A silly oversight, no doubt, but embarrassing
nonetheless.
The J Crown final is the match were Sasuke cracks his skull on the floor
while performing one of his flying kick topes.
The G1 Climax tournament was surprisingly entertaining and good, with the
story of the event being Shinya Hashimoto's knee trouble. I was surprised
that I enjoyed the New Japan heavies.
The All Japan highlight was the 09/08/96 TV show, with Mitsuhara Misawa &
Jun Akiyama vs. Steve Williams & Johnny Ace. I think Akiyama is just
incredible.
I also had the chance to watch the Stu Hart Tribute show that aired on TV
in western Canada. The wrestling matches were clipped a great deal, but the
aura of the event was great. They had interviews with various stars of old
and present that were all fun and sometimes out of character. Owen Hart
broke his heelish character to praise his father for raising great kids,
etc., saying that he has his hands full with his two children. Bret Hart
talked about Stampede being the place that people actually learned to
wrestle and complained about the recent trend of pushing unskilled guys as
wrestlers.
ECW-wise, I watched the following shows:
7?? ECW - 06/17/95 TV, 06/24/95 TV, 07/01/95 TV, 07/08/95 TV
ECW - 07/15/95 TV, 07/22/95 TV
05/13/95 ECW Public Enemy vs. Pitbulls ECW Tag ***
(double dog collars, Enemy retain)
06/17/95 ECW Highlights from 06/17 Arena show
06/17/95 ECW Beulah vs. Luna Vachon DUD
06/17/95 ECW Pitbulls & Raven **1/2
vs. Taz & Too Cold Scorpio
06/17/95 ECW Public Enemy DUD
vs. Axl Rotten & mystery partner
(Axl picks Ian Rotten, Bill Alfonso
overrules, Gangstas attack PE)
06/17/95 ECW Jungle Jim Steele vs. 911 DUD
06/17/95 ECW Cactus Jack vs. Sandman ECW
(highlights, Sandman retains,
barbed wire)
07/01/95 ECW Raven & Steve Richards ECW Tag
vs. Public Enemy
(Raven & Richards win titles,
highlights)
07/01/95 ECW Taz vs. Too Cold Scorpio ***
07/01/95 ECW Broad Street Bully & Chad Austin DUD
vs. Don E. Allen & Dino Sendoff
(Don E. Allen choke slams everyone)
07/01/95 ECW Val Puccio vs. Hack Myers -*
07/01/95 ECW Dudley Dudley & Snot Dudley *
vs. Pitbulls (Dudleys debut)
07/01/95 ECW Tommy Dreamer & Luna Vachon
vs. Raven & Steve Richards
(highlights)
07/15/95 ECW Highlights from 07/15 Arena show
07/15/95 ECW Don E. Allen & Broad Street Bully
vs. Raven & Steve Richards
(Beulah & Francine fight)
07/29/95 ECW Dean Malenko & Too Cold Scorpio
vs. Eddy Guerrero & Taz
(lots of highlights)
7?? ECW - 08/13/95 TV, 08/20/95 TV, 08/27/95 TV, 09/03/95 TV
ECW - 09/10/95 TV, 09/17/95 TV
07/28/95 ECW Highlights from 07/28 Middletown
07/28/95 ECW Steve Richards & Raven vs. Pitbulls ECW Tag
(Raven & Richards retain)
07/28/95 ECW Eddy Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko ECW TV
(Eddy wins title)
08/05/95 ECW Beulah vs. Francine
08/05/95 ECW Hack Myers vs. J.T. Smith 3/4*
08/05/95 ECW Val Puccio vs. Broad Street Bully
(highlights)
08/05/95 ECW Dudley Dudley & Big Dick Dudley
& Raven & Steve Richards
vs. Tommy Dreamer & Cactus Jack
& Pitbulls (highlights, Jack turns)
08/05/95 ECW Dean Malenko & Too Cold Scorpio ****1/4
& Cactus Jack vs. Eddy Guerrero
& Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner
08/05/95 ECW Sandman vs. Mikey Whipreck
(highlights, loser gets caned)
08/05/95 ECW Public Enemy vs. Gangstas
(highlights, stretcher)
08/26/95 ECW Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero ***3/4
(final ECW appearance, great
post-match)
08/26/95 ECW J.T. Smith vs. Hack Myers 1/2*
08/26/95 ECW Sandman & Gangstas
vs. Public Enemy & Mikey Whipwreck
(highlights, fan cam)
08/26/95 ECW Raven & Steve Richards vs. Pitbulls ECW Tag ***1/2
(Raven & Richards retain)
08/26/95 ECW Tommy Dreamer vs. Dudley Dudley *
08/26/95 ECW Francine vs. Beulah (highlights)
08/26/95 ECW Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner ***3/4
vs. Chris Benoit & Too Cold Scorpio
(clipped a little)
I've still got six TV tapes to get through, bringing me to July of this
year. The two I've watched so far were a mixed bag. I really enjoyed
several of the matches (the Benoit, Malenko, Scorpio, Guerrero stuff,
mostly), but the average TV show still contains little actual wrestling.
Starting at the top, the first match was from the ECW Arena show that Sabu
no-showed. So, of course, during the dog collar match when the wrestlers
performed daredevil stunts that impressed the Arena crowd, they chanted
"Fuck Sabu!" instead of "Rocco Rules!" or something more apropos.
I still don't get the "ECW! ECW!" chant when a wrestler does something the
crowd likes. Why not chant the wrestler's name instead, praise the
wrestlers that are good, not the generic promotion?
The Pitbulls can have exciting matches in the ECW framework, but their
superbomb is terribly contrived. The person taking the bump has to grab the
Pitbull around the neck as part of the move; usually the bump-taker is so
battered by this time that he is selling being nearly unconscious, but
somehow he remembers to grab the Pitbull's neck. It's too cooperative.
The Eddy vs. Dean match were Eddy wins the title was great. If you want to
see what I consider a moronic ringside fan, watch this match and check out
the guy in the front row with their backs to the camera. He's a twit. He
appears at ringside facing the camera on other shows.
In the ****1/4 six-man from 08/05, Scorpio blew a head scissors take over
spot and the crowd chanted "You fucked up!" at him. They also chanted
"Whoop, you suck!" during his entrance (which plays "Whoop, there it is!").
I guess that's why Meltzer writes about how over Scorpio is as a heel. I
have another interpretation that doesn't really even involve Scorpio.
The Eddy vs. Dean match from 08/26 was wrapped up in a great TV show,
likely one of the best hours of TV any North American promotion has put
together. Joey Styles did a great job of calling the match. It was a nice
touch when Eddy gave Joey a hug before the match. The post match interviews
were great. The only downside to the whole thing involved some of the
things the fans chanted or signed: "Bischoff sucks!", "Please don't go!" At
least they didn't chant "You sold out" at these guys. Still, they earned
pennies in ECW and were finally picked up to make some dollars in WCW, so
chants like "Good luck!" just seem more appropriate. If you really respect
these guys and you are mature, you wish them well at their higher profile
shot for bigger money; you don't insult their new boss and beg them to stay
like a two-year-old would.
At the tail end of the final tape, Cactus Jack has started his turn on the
"extreme" style of wrestling. It's really funny to hear him rail at the
"blood-thirsty fans."
I'm looking forward to seeing Juventud, Psicosis, and Rey Misterio Jr. in
the upcoming weeks. Cactus' interviews will probably continue to be great.
I've also seen the following two ECW commercial tapes.
7?? ECW - Hostile City Showdown, 04/20/96
04/20/96 ECW Super Nova vs. El Puerto Ricano DUD
(brawl with everybody after 3:00)
04/20/96 ECW Buh Buh Ray Dudley *1/2
& Devon Dudley vs. Pitbulls
04/20/96 ECW Taz vs. Devon Storm **
04/20/96 ECW Axl Rotten vs. Little Guido *
04/20/96 ECW Sandman & Too Cold Scorpio **
vs. Bruiser Brothers
04/20/96 ECW Brian Lee vs. Tommy Dreamer **
04/20/96 ECW Sabu vs. Rob van Damme ****1/4
04/20/96 ECW Raven vs. Douglas ECW **1/4
(Raven retains, three way kiss
pre-match)
7?? ECW - Heatwave '96, 07/13/96
07/13/96 ECW Samoan Gangsta Party vs. Gangstas *1/2
07/13/96 ECW Mikey Whipwreck vs. Paul Loria DUD
07/13/96 ECW Eliminators **1/4
vs. Mikey Whipwreck & Sabu
07/13/96 ECW Dances with Dudley 1/2*
& Buh Buh Ray Dudley
& Big Dick Dudley vs. Big Guido
& Little Guido & J.T. Smith
07/13/96 ECW Tarzan Goto vs. Axl Rotten *
07/13/96 ECW Shane Douglas vs. Too Cold Scorpio ****1/2
vs. Pitbull #2 & Chris Jericho
07/13/96 ECW Louie Spicoli vs. El Puerto Ricano DUD
07/13/96 ECW Louie Spicoli vs. Sabu ***
07/13/96 ECW Sandman & Tommy Dreamer **
& Terry Gordy vs. Raven
& Steve Richards & Brian Lee
The 04/20 show was a bit weird because Taz won by a count out over Devon
Storm. When has the count out rule ever been enforced in an ECW match? It
got even weirder to hear Shane Douglas' interview at the end of the show.
He talked about wanting the ECW Title because it is the only World Title
that means anything. All of this when Steve Richards would end up defending
the belt for Raven in the months to come and even end up losing it to
Sandman on Raven's behalf. Is the belt meaningful or was Shane just trying
to work himself into the TV Title story line?
Speaking of which, the TV Title four corners match was one of the best ECW
Arena matches I've ever seen. I think it was better than the "Night The
Line Was Crossed" triangle match, that had just too much interference and
nonsensical booking to compare with this match. I suppose one could analyze
the strategies of the wrestlers and nitpick about this match too. The idea
was that match would go until one wrestler was left; he would be the TV
champ. Anybody could tag anybody. The best strategy, then, is to wait until
the other three guys have whittled themselves down to one and then wrestle
a tired guy while you are fresh. Why, then, were guys even interested in
tagging? All of the tags, at least early on, before any match animosities
could overwhelm common sense, should have been sneaky tags (tagging someone
while he wasn't looking or something). Anyhow, it was still excellent.
Sabu vs. Louie Spicoli was disappointing. Sabu now has a stupid table spot
where he sets up the table as a bridge from the apron to the guard rail. He
knocked Spicoli onto it; well, actually, it was high enough that Spicoli
obviously cooperated and got on it. Spicoli then laid there for eons while
Sabu set up his tope and drove him through the table. The spot is only
sensible if the guy on the table plays possum and moves, as van Damme had
on the earlier show.
The Eliminators still leave me unimpressed. Their match on this show,
admittedly against guys who aren't known for being crisp, perfect workers,
was filled with flubbed spots, mistimed moves, etc.
[ ECW Women ] On all four ECW tapes, the Sandman did nothing worthwhile,
unless you count drinking beer from Missy Hyatt's breasts.
Missy was embarrassing, dirty-dancing for Sandman and Scorpio and almost
pretending to go down on Sandman. My parents have watched a fair bit of ECW
now and, while talking to my mother on the phone the other day, she
commented that she enjoys some of the "real wrestling" matches and even
finds the violence entertaining at times (she follows that up by saying
that it's not good wrestling). After watching the In Your House where the
ECW guys appear, she said that she recognized Sandman and then asked me why
the WWF would be interested in him, since we all know "he can't do
anything."
[ - ] [Nitro ] beat [RAW ] on 10/07 with a 3.5 rating (5.4 share) against a
2.1 rating (3.0 share). Nitro's two hour broadcast rating is averaged. The
Observer reports that the ratings in the final 15 minutes of each show were
3.7 to 2.0 in Nitro favour (for the Chris Benoit vs. Rick Steiner match
against the Sid vs. Goldust match). The detailed ratings are a click away.
[ Shinzaki buries Hakushi ] [ - ] The PPV buy rates of the past six month
(year or so) show that the WWF has an
average buy rate of 0.53 (0.65) and average gross of $1.39-million
($1.69-million), while WCW has an average buy rate of 0.60 (0.57) and
average gross of $1.82-million ($1.69-million). The details are an
interesting read.
[ - ] The WWF has Survivor Series on 11/17/96. Tentative line-up includes:
* Shawn Michaels vs. Sid for the WWF Title
* Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart
[ - ] WCW has World War III 11/24/96. Current plan is to have a 60-man
three-ring battle royal as they did last year, with Hulk Hogan being
stripped of the title and the winner of the match becoming champion.
[ - ] The WWF has [In Your House ] on 12/15/96.
[ - ] WCW has Starrcade on 12/29/96. The show will be from Nashville.
[ - ] WWW: My home page is at http://barrow.uwaterloo.ca/~hekunze. The
wrestling portion includes this post, tape lists, awards history,
Japanese wrestling stuff, and other things.
[ - ] Videos: I have posted something about the availability of videos. If
you missed it, I'll send it to you in e-mail upon request.
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Thanks to: Masaki Aso.
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E-mail: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca